


Chosen

by HeadLadyInquisitor



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cats, F/M, Fluff, Mild Language, Pets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2016-10-15
Packaged: 2018-08-22 12:08:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8285332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeadLadyInquisitor/pseuds/HeadLadyInquisitor
Summary: Sometimes when stray animals need somewhere safe to go, they choose somebody to be their new human.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Ariya Lavellan is my Inquisitor, Lupa Lavellan belongs to theRadioStarr (lupalavellan on tumblr).
> 
> Prepare for tooth-rotting fluff!

_“Mrow.”_

Cullen’s head turned slowly at the sound - he had just barely heard it over the traffic whipping by. To his confusion, the sidewalk behind him was empty, nearby houses casting long shadows in the setting sun. He squinted, trying to find the source of the noise, but everything was still. “Just the wind, I suppose,” he mumbled and turned back around to continue his trek home.

A couple of a blocks later, he heard it again, louder this time: _“Mrow.”_

“What in the Void…” He did another about-face, but still found empty pavement. Backtracking a few steps, he peered around a couple of trees, bent over to check the hedges lining the sidewalk - nothing. He allowed himself a moment to question his sanity, then shook his head and kept on walking.

He was nearly home now, his modest house in sight just down the street, and this time there was no mistaking it: _“Mrow!”_

This time he whirled around, determined to find whatever creature had been stalking him for the last 20 minutes, and ended up locking eyes with… a cat. A fluffy gray house cat, sitting primly before him, staring up at him with wide green eyes, seemingly expecting… something. But what?

“Oh… Hello, there,” Cullen greeted the animal awkwardly. “What… Can I help you?”

 _“Mrow,”_ the cat replied, getting up to saunter over to him. It nudged his leg with its face and he nearly jumped, but it didn’t seem to mean him any harm. Then again, he knew next to _nothing_ about cats.

It continued winding itself around his legs, making little… purring noises? Uncertain of how to react, Cullen bent down to pat its head, and the cat surged up into his hand, apparently pleased. It was quite big, he noticed, now that he had a better look at it. Not tall, but… _fat_. “You must belong to someone,” he reasoned. He reached into the long fur around its neck in search of a collar, but came away with nothing. “Hmm.” He straightened back up, regarding the cat with discerning eyes. It simply tilted its head and watched him, making that strange almost-purring sound again.

Cullen sighed, scanning the houses up and down the road to see if anyone appeared to be outside looking for their pet. Disappointed to find nothing but quiet, he looked back down at his pursuer, whose staring was getting a bit unnerving. “I’m sorry, um… Cat. But, I need to get home now.”

The cat replied with another meow, but did not move. Satisfied, Cullen nodded and turned back toward his house.

He checked behind him a couple of times on the short distance remaining, but the cat seemed to have vanished again. _“_ I hope it went home,” he mumbled. This street got a fair bit of traffic and wasn’t the best place for animals to be running around unsupervised.

Cullen stepped up to his front door and gathered up his mail with one hand while digging around for his keys with the other. When he found them, he tucked the mail under his arm and inserted the key in the lock, but before he could turn it-

“ _Mrow_.”

He nearly jumped out of his skin and looked down at the cat that had, by all appearances, materialized on his stoop. “Maker, how…?” The cat merely stared up at him, as if waiting for something.

He sighed and turned his key. “I’m sorry, but you have to stay out here,” he said regretfully, wondering if he had anything he could at least feed the poor thing.

He stepped inside and closed the door behind him, feeling not a little guilty, but within seconds, a pathetic yowling sound came from the other side of the door, accompanied by frenzied scratching.

Cullen may not have been a cat person, but he wasn’t _heartless_.

Defeated, he opened the door again and the cat dashed in without a moment’s hesitation. This contrast with its careful movements as it followed Cullen down the street came as a surprise, but once it was inside, the cat seemed to calm again and sat on the floor with a couple more insistent meows.

“Right, I suppose you’re hungry,” Cullen muttered, heading to his kitchen, cat hot on his heels. He opened his fridge and scanned the contents. “Cats like milk, right?” he asked, as if expecting an answer, but the animal merely watched him intently. Cullen shook his head and found a small bowl, poured in a bit of milk and set it in front of the cat. It began lapping at it eagerly, and Cullen congratulated himself for getting one thing right, at least.

What to do next though, he had no earthly idea. Setting his things down on the counter, he pulled out his phone and called his girlfriend - someone he knew loved cats.

After a couple of rings, Ariya’s voice came through the earpiece: “Hey, handsome.”

He blushed - he _always_ blushed when she talked like that. “Ariya, I, uh… There’s a cat in my house.”

“What? Why is there a cat in your house?”

“It, ah, it followed me home. I tried to leave it outside, but it started screaming, so-”

“Is it injured?” She interrupted, voice suddenly serious.

Cullen glanced over at the cat, still happily drinking from its bowl. “I don’t think so, it _seems_ healthy. It’s pretty big. I gave it some milk and-”

“ _Cullen!_ ”

“What?!”

An exasperated sigh came through the phone. “Only kittens drink milk. If you give it to an adult cat it’ll shit all over your house, not to mention feeling really uncomfortable. Don’t you have some turkey or tuna or something?”

Cullen was already moving to whisk the bowl of milk away from the cat, much to its displeasure. (“ _Mrow!_ ”) Placing the bowl in the sink, Cullen opened a cabinet and started rummaging around. “Like canned tuna? I think I have some of that…”

“Perfect,” Ariya replied. “I’m grabbing my vet friend and I’ll be over in 20 minutes.”

He started to answer, but his phone beeped in his ear to tell him she had already hung up.

* * *

 

“Oh, Cullen. I think you’ve been chosen.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Chosen?”

Ariya had brought a friend of hers, Lupa, who happened to be a veterinarian, to come by and take a look at his feline stalker. She had been kneeling next to the cat for the last 15 minutes or so, feeling and looking and listening, while the cat tolerated the examination with surprising calmness.

“Yeah, this happens sometimes,” Lupa explained. “Sometimes strays will just see someone and decide that’s who they want to be with. And they’re usually pretty good at picking people they can trust. In this case…” she hesitated.

“What?” Cullen pressed.

Lupa tried to bite back a smile. “In this case, she was probably looking for a safe place to have her litter.”

“Her… what?” Cullen blanched, ignoring Ariya’s excited gasp beside him.

“Yeah…” Lupa drawled, “She’s probably gonna go into labor any day now.”

"Maker’s _breath_ ,” Cullen muttered. “Does it... she… Do you think she belongs to someone?”

“It’s not likely,” Lupa replied. “People are pretty good about spaying and neutering these days, and she doesn’t seem to have a microchip. Put something up online just to be safe but… she probably came to you because she didn’t have anywhere else.”

While Lupa was talking, the cat stood up and meandered back over to Cullen, rubbing up against his legs before sitting down at his feet and starting to groom herself. Ariya crouched down and held out a hand for her to smell, and the cat happily accepted her touch with a purr. “Cullen, there’s no way you can give her up to a shelter,” Ariya declared.

“I never said I was going to!” He protested. “But… I don’t know anything about cats. Let alone _pregnant_ cats.”

Ariya stood up again and faced him, letting the cat continue her hygiene routine. “How about I come and stay with you until she has her litter? And… maybe a little after to help with the kittens.”

Cullen furrowed his brow in consideration for a moment, then his face shifted into a smile. “Is this your way of asking to move in with me?”

“Aaand that’s my cue to leave,” Lupa cut in, gathering up her bag of supplies. “Call me if you need anything, I’m sure you’ll be fine!” She called over her shoulder as she all but dashed out the door.

Cullen chuckled at her abrupt exit, then noticed Ariya’s stunned expression. “Well?”

She flushed, something she didn’t often do, and Cullen knew he’d thrown her for a loop - it was a nice change. “I mean,” she stammered, “I _wasn’t_ , but… are _you_ asking?”

He reached for her hand, careful not to move too much and disturb the cat at his feet, and gave her a soft smile. “If I’m going to have a cat - Maker, if I’m going to have _kittens_ , I’m fairly certain I’ll need you here. I’m hopeless.”

Her face broke out in a wide grin and she stood up on her toes to plant a kiss on his lips. “You _did_ give her milk, so… I suppose I’d better move in, for their sake.”

**Author's Note:**

> To read more about my OC and the fics I'm too lazy to post on AO3, check out my tumblr at head-bitch-inquisitor!


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